Great Diamond Partners LLC Acquires 260 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 1.1% of Great Diamond Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ ADP traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $246.86. 757,877 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,456,620. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.06. The firm has a market cap of $101.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,966 shares of company stock worth $749,524. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Profile

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.